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Easy French Appetizer Recipes

Here are some easy French appetizer recipes, including tapenade, leek tart and baked Brie. French appetizers include a wide variety of hors d'oeuvres, sometimes called les amuse-bouches (mouth amusements). Don't be put off by these fancy terms, all of the recipes featured here are easy and require no special techniques for
success. As with all good food, the only secret is to start with the freshest and best ingredients you can find.

Balance your appetizers with your meal

As always with cooking and serving food in the French style, consider balance. If you are making one of these easy French appetizer recipes for an event where dinner is not included, include lots of tasty and filling noshes, both warm and cold. Your guests will be grateful to find enough to eat so that if the event lasts late, they don't have to worry about dinner afterwards.

If on the other hand, you will be serving a heavy dinner soon after appetizers, go lightly. I've made the mistake more than once of going overboard on the appetizers and found myself with less than enthusiastic eaters at the dinner table. On the other hand if you want to stretch things out, go right ahead and serve a hearty appetizer and wait on dinner a bit.

Appetizers can be fun to make and nothing is to stop you from giving them a test run a couple of days before a party you are planning. Just serve your family a many coursed meal with the results.

Many of theses French appetizer recipes can be made ahead of time. Who wants to be fussing with something in the kitchen when everyone else is relaxing with a drink? As always at Easy French Food, you will find all of these recipes simple to prepare and without a lot of fussy ingredients.

Kids and adults love these shredded zucchini fritters. These are great served with a tomato dipping sauce.

My faux pas (one of many)

Cheese is rarely served as an appetizer in France. I remember being stared at rather oddly when I showed up with cheese and crackers as an appetizer at a potluck. Cheese is reserved for a special course all by itself after the main meal, where it can receive all of the lavish attention the French love to give it.

Entertaining tip

If you always have a stock of nuts, crackers and olives in the pantry, than you are equipped in case you do find that all the appetizers have been gobbled up and dinner won't be ready for another 30 minutes.

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